Michael McCormick​

Interviewed by Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Date June 2019

When quilters discovered the award-winning lighting product Michael McCormick co-developed in 2010 (Stella), he realized the quilt industry — one full of passionate, creative people — was where he belonged. McCormick went on to write and self-publish three children’s quilting books (Bambini Book Club) and manufactured a line of quilting fabrics sold throughout the world. In 2016, after seeing a lack of meaningful content for the quilters he so admired, McCormick founded Quiltfolk, an ad-free, quarterly magazine that examines quilt culture in America, state by state. From the first issue, Quiltfolk has been the top-selling quilt magazine at Barnes & Noble bookstores and has a growing readership of devoted subscribers. Before becoming a “quilt-repreneur”, McCormick spent five years as a professional baseball player. He and wife Marisa live in Portland, Oregon, and welcomed their first child, Cora in 2018.

Topics

Quiltfolk magazine

The economics of the magazine

Intellectual Property of the magazine 

What he has learned from the quilting world

Representation and demographics